Classification and Application of Natural Surfactants

1
Classification and Application of Natural
Surfactants
2
Introduction

• Natural surfactants are widely used in daily life
  and science. Most of the natural surfactants come
  from animal and plant organisms, and are
  relatively complex high molecular organic
  substances. Because of their high hydrophilicity,
  they can form emulsions. Most natural surfactants
  have high viscosity and emulsion stability and
  are widely used in medicine, food, cosmetics and
  detergents. Common natural surfactants include
  lecithin, cholesterol, lanolin, tea saponin,
  protein, saponins, sugars and alkyl
  polyglycosides. Most of the natural surfactants
  are non-irritating, non-toxic and side effects,
  easy to be biodegraded, and have good
  compatibility. Therefore, they are the
  development direction of future surfactants.

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Lecithin

• Lecithin is present in biological cells such as
  the eggs, brain and other tissues of animals as
  well as in plant seeds or germs. Lecithin has an
  amphiphilic structure. And it has excellent
  physiological activities such as emulsifying,
  dispersing and anti-oxidation, and is an
  excellent natural surfactant and an important
  emulsifier. When dispersed in water, lecithin can
  form a phospholipid small cell body (fat body)
  having a stable bimolecular membrane structure.
  This fat body can be used as a carrier for
  medicines, and can also be widely used in skin
  care, hair care and makeup products. Lecithin can
  also be involved in the metabolism of cells, with
  the function of activating cells and anti-aging.

4
Cholesterol

• Cholesterol is a natural emulsifier found in
  animal brain and nervous tissues as well as
  lanolin and egg yolk. The molecular structure of
  cholesterol has a strong hydrophobicity and is
  therefore suitable for the preparation of
  oil-soluble emulsifiers. The sebum secretion in
  the skin is rich in cholesterol and its
  derivatives, which have the functions of skin
  care and hair care. Cholesterol is also a
  co-emulsifier that promotes and enhances the
  function of other surfactants. It can be applied
  to cosmetic preparations to help stabilize
  pigments and lotions.

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Lanolin

• Lanolin is the secretion of the sebaceous glands
  of sheep, mostly extracted from wool. The
  emulsion prepared from lanolin and its
  derivatives is easy to absorb by the skin, has
  good stability and good emollient properties, so
  it is mostly used in creams and oily emulsions.
  Isopropyl lanolinate has a strong hydrophilic
  action and can be used in cream preparations.
  Lanolin alcohol has strong water/oil
  emulsification properties and also stabilizes
  oil/water emulsions. Hydrogenated lanolin is a
  water/oil emulsifier and an oil/water emulsion
  stabilizer. It has strong water absorption and is
  easily absorbed by the skin. Lanolin acid soap
  contains potassium ion, sodium ion,
  triethanolamine, etc., and has an emulsification
  effect.

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Tea saponin

• Tea saponin is an extract of tea, a triterpenoid
  saponin with strong surface activity and
  resistance to hard water. Tea saponin has many
  functions such as emulsification,
  decontamination, wetting, dispersion, and
  foaming. Different "oil phase" emulsifiers can be
  developed using the emulsification properties of
  tea saponin. Washing the wool fabric with tea
  saponin maintains the fabric in a vibrant color.
  Tea saponin has the functions of hair care,
  anti-dandruff and anti-hair loss, so it is often
  used in shampoos. Tea saponin is an excellent
  natural surfactant with an emulsifying ability
  exceeding that of oleic acid soap, alkyl
  sulfonate and polyoxyethylene fatty alcohol ether.

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Protein

• The protein is composed of amino acids,
  containing both a hydrophilic group and a
  hydrophobic group, and is a polymeric surfactant.
  Protein is an essential nutrient for the body and
  is often used as a food emulsifier. There are
  many kinds of proteins, such as milk protein, egg
  protein, casein, soy protein, etc., which have
  the functions of emulsification, foaming and
  colloid protection. The functions and
  applications of different varieties of proteins
  are also different. Mucin is a glycoprotein that
  binds water molecules and stabilizes the
  emulsion. It can be used as a co-emulsifier in
  skin care products. The yolk high-phosphorus
  protein is extracted from egg yolk, is easily
  soluble in water, has remarkable surface ability
  and stable emulsion performance, and is an
  excellent nutrient and emulsifier for skin care
  products.

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Phytosterol

• The phytosterol can be extracted from soybean oil
  and composed of sitosterol, stigmasterol,
  campesterol, VE and the like. It has similar
  physicochemical properties to cholesterol, has a
  weak surface activity, and also has
  antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and hair care
  effects. It should be particularly noted that
  phytosterols have a liquid crystal structure and
  are often used to prepare liposomes.

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Alkyl glycoside

• Alkyl glycosides are synthesized from sugars.
  Alkyl glycosides have weak skin irritation,
  broad-spectrum antibacterial properties, and good
  compatibility with other types of surfactants.
  The alkyl glycoside has excellent wetting and
  foaming properties and has obvious thickening
  effect, so it has a wide range of applications.
  Adding alkyl glycosides to the washing powder can
  improve the detergency of the washing powder. The
  use of an alkyl glycoside in a meal lotion can
  improve the solubility and mildness of the
  preparation and reduce the degreasing power to
  the skin.

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Saponin

• The saponin is composed of a sapogenin and a
  sugar, and the sugar which can constitute the
  saponin includes glucose, galactose, rhamnose,
  arabinose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid and
  the like. According to different structures,
  sapogenin can be divided into triterpenoid
  saponins and steroidal saponins, wherein the
  distribution of triterpenoid saponins is more
  extensive and more diverse than steroidal
  saponins. There are many plants containing
  saponins, which are common in Liliaceae,
  Dioscoreae, Agave, Rosaceae, Dianthus,
  Polygonaceae, Araliaceae, Cucurbitaceae, etc.
  Most of these plants have descaling and
  emulsifying functions and are important natural
  surfactants.

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Carbohydrate

• The natural degrading power of carbohydrate
  natural surfactants is weak, but most of them
  have thickening, emulsifying and stabilizing
  effects. Carrageenan is a widely used
  co-emulsifier. It has a stabilizing effect on
  colloids (such as toothpaste and shaving cream).
  It also has a film-forming function and can be
  applied to hair gel. Alginic acid and its sodium
  salt are commonly used thickeners and
  emulsifiers, have a moisturizing effect and can
  be used in shampoos. Pullulan has an
  emulsification function and is commonly used in
  cleansing cosmetics to have a moisturizing
  function. Cyclodextrins are oligosaccharides
  composed of glucose units and have a cyclic
  structure. It has surface activity such as
  emulsification, solubilization and dispersion,
  and can be used in essential oils and flavors.

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Fatty acid monoglyceride

• The chemical formula of fatty acid monoglyceride
  is C17H33COOCH2CHOHCH2OH, which is a creamy waxy
  solid with a melting point of 56 ?. It can be
  dispersed in hot water and dissolved in ethanol.
  It is a lipophilic surfactant. Fatty acid
  monoglycerides are versatile emulsifiers. Because
  it can be completely biodegraded into glycerin
  and fatty acids, non-toxic and highly safe, it is
  recognized as an environmentally friendly "green"
  product and is widely used as an emulsifier for
  foods and cosmetics.